Persona: Lingering Shadow
by X-sempai
Summary: <html><head></head>Hinokagutsuchi's plot runs further than the Inaba Investigation team knows. Soon, however, a new set of players will emerge. Crap summary, read to see for yourself.</html>
1. Prologue

**For all of you who clicked on this, thinking it looked interesting. Thank you.**

**Now that being said, this is my very first attempt at making a fanfiction. I have been and will continue to research everything related to my selected series. While I am no stranger to the Persona and SMT series, I prefer to be as correct as possible. Most personas will be correct pertaining to their most recent arcana incarnation (Persona 4/Golden) or demon incarnation (SMT IV). Bear with me as I begin what I hope is the beginning of an amzing story. Remember to R&R and like if you really did like it. **

**Oh, Disclaimer! I don't own the Persona series or SMT IV. They are all owned by Atlus.**

It's a nice night for Vivaldi.

Those were his thoughts as he gazed out his office window towards his city. It was his city, in a quite physical and literal sense.

After all, it had taken him the better amount of his fortune and 5 years, but in the end he had raised this city. Inhabitants flocked to it when they7 heard about the opportunities one could and would have in it. He had promised them the moon and in those 5 years, he had delivered on his promise.

He could reminisce all he wanted later, for now, he was expecting something to happen soon.

"Sir? You have a video call in the conference room… or is it more apt to say that _we _have a call."

A soft giggling could be heard over his intercom, but to him it was more or less the equivalent of a goddess's laughter.

He considered himself to have a small attraction to his secretary, Mai. His subordinates, however, know that he had it bad.

"Well sir? Should we head to our positions? It would be such a _shame _if we were caught as we entered the room, wouldn't it sir?"

Her teasing tone at the end sent his heart a-flutter and caused his face to heat up.

Oh yeah, he had it bad.

He quickly composed himself and turned around to press the buzzer on his desk. "Of course, Mai. It would be quite a _shame _if we were caught with our figurative pants down. After all, with our positions and sense of authority, we are expected to have a high sense of decorum." He finished with a small smirk on his face. He knew how "noble" his comrades were. In his mind, their decorum could buy a dildo and go fuck itself. Decorum was worth squat in the midst of battle. It was all well and good to know how to act presentable and respectable when in social functions, but when they tried to transfer that very same state of mind to the battlefield, one got sloppy or excessively paranoid. It was a sure-fire way to cause a death by incompetence.

His statement was met with a small pause, which was then broken by their very own raucous laughter.

In contrast to his own soft chuckling, Mai's was a… strange phenomenon. It started at a soft and almost nonexistent volume, before suddenly exploding into an attention-grabbing event. It took both of them several minutes to calm down enough to breathe and several more to be able to speak.

"We haven't laughed like that in quite a while, Mai. But, alas, this is one call we cannot ignore, no matter how hilarious it would be. You go ahead; I still have some things that I need to prepare."

He could hear her shuffling papers and arranging objects on her desk before she responded.

"Yes sir, I will wait for you there. See you soon."

After she spoke there was only silence, until the light on his desk went dark, signaling that the intercom had been disconnected from her side.

Silenced reigned in his office for a while, leaving him to his thoughts.

He remembered how he met his Mai. Oh Gods, _his _Mai? Maybe his employees were right. He quickly changed from that train of thought. Of course Mai was no exception; he remembered every employee he had ever met and the reason why he contracted them. Most of them had the potential, the ability that was so desired by his older compatriots. He could never understand their drive to find and have more with the potential under their proverbial thumb. He himself knew of at least 7 regular humans who could beat him, hands down. Potential or no.

He had always thought it strange that his compatriots were somewhat obsessed with these humans. He paid them no mind most of time, if only because they held the power he needed to fulfill his goal. Of course he was not without his plans B-F.

He was nothing if not pragmatic. Betrayals were expected in groups such as the one he was currently, he had thought at the time, and such plans would forestall a setback in his own plans.

But life is fleeting he mused to himself, maybe he should take Mai out for dinner and see where it went. After all, what had he to lose?

…

…

…

The conference room at the uppermost floor was a bit of an understatement. It could be said it was more of a conference hall than a room.

It had a 20 meter ceiling (60 ft.) with 13 meter walls on all sides. In the very center of the room stood several screens setup in a display which allowed any direction to view and weigh in on calls and meetings.

It was a rather dull color, being a very light sky blue.

As he walked in, he noticed Mai setting up for the call, with her fingers moving agilely and quickly over the keyboards. What those fingers could do, he thought…no those thoughts could wait till later, when… if; he and Mai ever got that far.

"Are all preparations close to completion? Last time one of The Organization had faulty connection, our meeting was near insufferable. I couldn't ignore the others with all the static that was present." And he meant it. It would seem ignoring someone required a certain measure of peace and quiet that was usually present in their meetings.

She sent a glare in his direction, one that cause him to back up with his hands held up in a defensive manner.

"Are you implying that my technological skills are lacking? May I remind you who it was that managed to fry the whole system, merely by touch the keyboard of his computer?" Her accompanying glare was enough to cause him to sweat nervously.

Screw what his idiot brothers said, there was no way he was going to die merely because he had manly pride.

"No, no. I was just mentioning how our last meeting was to noisy to properly tune out the other members. I'm sure the problem wasn't your fault in the very least. And you know perfectly well that I had very little control of my electricity that day; I had just learned Thunder Reign, for cripes sakes."

She spent several moments analyzing him before she turned back to her work.

"You're just lucky you're really cute, otherwise…" She needed no further example of what she would do. He had seen her executions on other workers. He liked having his mental state the way it was, thank you very much.

"There, done. We should be receiving them crystal clear now. No interruptions or interference of any kind for now."

There was a small lull in conversation while they both sat around waiting.

He cleared his throat with a small cough for what he was about to ask. "Mai, there's something I want o ask…"

She turned to face him when he spoke. "Hmmm? What is it _JOKER_?"

"Well, I was wondering…"

Anything else he might have said was cut off by the sound of their monitors beeping to signify an incoming call. "It can wait sir. We have a meeting to attend."

She stood and turned to face the monitors, as did he, and pressed a small button next to the keyboard.

The screen flashed once, and stayed dark for several more seconds before blinking to life. The action was followed by a soft, feminine voice sounding out through the speakers.

"Voice confirmation required. Please state name, designation and codename one at a time please."

_JOKER _went first. "Number 0, _JOKER_. Designation neo-Vanguard #0, Codename Akuma."

The screen went white for several seconds before his information was displayed on-screen.

"Number 0, _JOKER_. Voice recognition confirmed. Thank you, _JOKER_. 1 more presence confirmed, please. State your name, designation and codename."

Now it was Mai's turn. "Number 2, Mai Villanueva Fuyutsuki. Designation neo-Vanguard #2, codename Mora."

Again, the screen went white, before displaying her information. "Number 2, Mai Villanueva Fuyutsuki. Voice recognition confirmed. Thank you, Mai. Both presences have been confirmed and authorized as members. Proceeding with connection to main call. Thank you for your time."

The screen went blank, except for their group's emblem on it.

"So, didn't know you slept with a kitty plushy." This managed to elicit a blush from _JOKER_. He took a few seconds to stutter before responding.

"S…s.. ?! What about your 'excessive pocky obsession'? Apparently you've managed to cover your walls with the boxes?"

Now it was her turn to blush. "I..i.i..it's not that bad. Besides, pocky is tasty and comes in so many different flavors!"

They were force to calm down as the screen blared to life with 11 panels, each with a separate person in it. Mai and _JOKER_ took a step back from each other as the commenced with the meeting.

As before, _JOKER_ began. "Number 0, _JOKER_ the Nexus; The 0th/22nd arcana, Fool."

"Number 1, Zolf; The Magician/ 1st arcana."

"Number 2, Mai Villanueva Fuyutsuki; The High Priestess/ 2nd arcana."

"Number 3, Yuri; The Empress/ 3rd arcana."

And so it went until reaching the 13th, and last, member for the night's meeting.

_JOKER_ seemed to be the only who seemed to care if the rest were missing. "Are the old geezers all have their Viagra prescriptions refilled today or what?!"

Number 13 was the one who answered him. "As you so eloquently put it, Number 0, yes they are busy, but not with that. They have other concerns, pertaining to tonight's agenda. May we continue now, _JOKER_?"

He scoffed before replying. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just get on with it already!"

He received a nod in return. "Thank you Number 0. Now, as for tonight's meeting, are we on track concerning recruitment?"

Number 7 answered. "Yes. Current projections show that we will, in fact, receive somewhere around 200% the amount we previously anticipated. They also show that these recruitment rates will not drop in the foreseeable future."

A nod. "Thank you, Number 7. How about our R&D, how are we there?"

Number 10 this time. "We have managed to successfully test on willing human volunteers. While their expected life spans have dropped considerably, to somewhere around only 40 years of age, their power outputs have increased 150%."

No motion in response to this. "Are they in pain or some other debilitating ailment?"

Number 10 shook his head no. "Not that we can tell."

This did elicit a nod of acceptance. "Acceptable. We expect more results like these in the future. Now on to out\r main concern involving field operations. Is Hinokagutsuchi proceeding along to plans?"

_JOKER_ answered. "Of course. He also believes himself to be in charge of the situation. He believes that after his plan succeeds, he will be able to use his newfound power to take us out."

"Good. Let him have his delusions of grandeur. By the time his plan will be able to come to fruition, the Inaba group will eliminate him for us. We need not worry about him. He will ultimately fail in his quest."

A murmur of consensus was heard throughout the room.

Number 13 then nodded and addressed the group. "Very well, I believe our meeting was productive. We will meet again after the culmination of the P-1 Climax. Meeting adjourned."

The screen went black following his dismissal of the group, and all that remained was the emblem for The Organization.

"Guess we keep progressing our own plans, huh sir?" Mai turned to face her superior, only to find him at the window, the only window, in the room. He was facing out, viewing his city with thinly veiled joy.

His thoughts were a jumbled mess, but two things were solidified in his future plans.

He inclined his head slightly to his right and turned his head to face her. "Mai, have our people begin preparations of our contingency plans…and get yourself ready for dinner." He saw her smirk at him before he turned back to face his city.

"You know sir, you have to give a girl prior warning before you drop a bombshell like a date on her," her smirk turned into a full-on Cheshire grin, "but since your so handsome… I guess I'll allow it." As she began to walk towards the elevator which would take her back down, she heard him begin to chuckle.

She had already pressed to call button for the lift when she heard him speak again.

"Oh and Mai, dear…"

She turned to face him. "Yes, _JOKER_?" He smirked at her.

"Put on the Four Seasons, specifically, Summer." She smiled at him, knowing how much of a fanatic he was for the classics.

"Of course, sir…I mean, dear." The lift arrived at precisely that moment and Mai got on and descended with it.

_JOKER_ merely cackled to himself, now that he was alone.

Thousands of thoughts flitted about in his mind, plans that needed to be solidified, people to be contacted, but of all these thought, of all the epiphanies he had, only one stood out to him.

It truly was a perfect night for Vivaldi.


	2. Chapter 1

**Thank you, readers for turning in to read another installment of Persona: Lingering Shadow. I haven't had any reviews as of writing this, or any flames, so I can only suppose that everything is going fine. Expect some slow development for a while. And now!**

**DISCLAIMER! I don't own Persona, P4A, or SMT IV. They are the property of Atlus and Arc Works.**

**Now onwards! To plot devices!**

"Ooohhhhh, man! I'm glad that whole thing's over. Seriously, it's like we have a giant sign that says 'send us crazy stuff to deal with' painted on us!"

Yosuke's voice sounded loudly over the din of the food court at _JUNES_. A few weeks had passed since the incident with Hinokagutsuchi and his plot for the "True Vessel." Things were starting to go back to normal. No one seemed to remember much of what happened that night; it helped that almost no one had been awake for the ordeal and that Marie was protecting everyone. In the end, the town remained blissfully unaware of their near brush with destruction.

As before, it was a small band of high school students who impeded Hinokagutsuchi's plan and struck him down.

Currently, some of these teens were relaxing at _JUNES_.

"Yosuke-kun, don'tcha think you're being just a bit too loud? What if other people hear you? They'll think you've gone insane or something!"

Yosuke glanced over at Chie, wondering if she ever thought about the things she said or did.

"I mean, what if someone in the police force heard you, they might think you were hatching some kind of terrorist plot… or something…" Chie trailed off her statement, suddenly understanding why everyone sometimes looked at her like she sprouted a 2nd head.

Yosuke gave Chie a pointed stare, "Chie-chan, maybe you should follow your own advice more often. If you someone heard you right then, they would've been brought over by all the attention you're bringing us."

She had the decency to appear sheepish. She brought a hand to the back of her head and nervously scratched it. "Well you see… he he...he…" She was saved from further embarrassment by her best friend.

"Chie-chan, no offense, but you really do follow you own motto to the letter, don't you? How'd it go again... Oh yeah, now I remember, 'Don't think, Feel' right?"

Chie turned to look at her friend in confusion, "Huh? What does that have to do with anything?"

Yosuke faceplamed. "Guys, we're getting off point. We came here to relax and celebrate a job well done with that crazy P-1 Climax tournament. With all the schoolwork that followed that thing, we haven't had a chance to do anything to celebrate." His statement prompted Chie to pump her fist into the air and Yukiko to nod. "That's right! Yukiko-chan and I have been busy with exams and work to really think about it, but you have a point! We should give ourselves a big pat on the back for a job well done! And maybe some steak would be nice?" She looked at him expectantly at this, trying her best to convince him to her side.

Yosuke faceplamed again.

Yukiko suddenly perked up, like she had remembered something. "Oh yeah guys, Mitsuru-san called me at the inn to tell us that they might have picked up a lead on Minazuki-san. She and her group were going to investigate."

At the mention of his name, Yosuke shuddered. "Jeez, I don't know why Yu decided to not do anything about him at the end of that thing, but I trust him to know what he's doing. If Mitsuru-san and the others decide they need our help, then I'll gladly do whatever they need."

At that moment, a cell phone rang, alerting Yosuke that he had a new mail.

After quickly bringing it out and checking, he put it away. "Aghhh, that was Kanji, said he wouldn't make it till later; had to help out in the front of his shop. Which reminds me; Yooooo! Teddie, quit working and come over and celebrate! You're off shift right now, just have fun and come hang with us!"

Said person turned to look at Yosuke before nodding quickly.

"Be right there, Yosuke-chan. I just have to change out of my skin, it's un-bear-ablely stuffy right now!"

"God dammit, you stupid bear! Your jokes aren't funny and stop saying creepy things like that out loud! People can hear you, ya know?!"

As Teddie ran to the locker rooms to change, Yosuke shook his head. "That bear, makes me think, just a little while ago he was living inside a T.V. world on his own. I wonder how our lives woulda been without him, ya know?"

Chie adopted a thinking pose before saying something. "A lot less noisy, that's for sure…but I don't think it would have been as fun. He livens up the place, you know?"

A wistful smile formed on Yosuke's face, "Yeah you're right about that, Chie-chan."

Soon, Teddie was ambling over, sporting a seemingly new dress shirt, this time, without a tacky rose in the pocket. He smile and pirouetted on the spot, showing off his "new" duds.

"So guys, how do I look? Will it catch some 'studs'?"

Yukiko threw a glare at Teddie, apparently trying to murder him with thoughts alone. "Teddie, would you like to meet my shoe?" Her look left no room argument.

"Wahhhh," Teddie exclaimed, "Yukiko-chan is scary!"

Any further conflict was halted by the timely arrival of the rest of the group.

"Yo! Sempai's! How have you guys been, you know, without all the work?"

Yosuke seemed taken surprised by their arrival. "Kanji, Rise-chan, Naoto-chan, we thought you guys were busy with work?"

Kanji and Rise shook their heads. "Yeah, but after my ma heard me send that message, she insisted that I spend time with you guys. Wouldn't take no for an answer and she insisted that she could handle the store for today."

Rise nodded at Kanji's story. "Yeah, I got the same. Inoue-san told me that I'd been working hard the past few weeks and that I deserved the rest of today and all of tomorrow off. He just made me promise that I'd come back the day after with a work attitude."

Everyone seemed to accept this, before turning to look at Naoto.

Chie was the one to ask. "And what about you, Naoto-chan? We all thought you had a new case?"

The female detective shook her head in the negative. "None whatsoever. I happened to have free time and noticed that we hadn't gotten together in a while. I came here thinking it would be where I could find all of you."

The group mulled it over before nodding their heads. "That makes sense. Since Teddie and I work here, the rest of the group would come here in order not to inconvenience us right?"

In a rare show of emotion for her, Naoto lowered her cap until it covered most of her face. "No…. I thought that would be the case because…well… this is our secret headquarters, isn't it?" I f any of them had attempted to check under her cap, they would have noticed Naoto's face attempting to mimic a tomato.

Slowly, one by one, the rest nodded, albeit a bit slowly. "Yeah I guess that would work."

Teddie looked around before suddenly speaking. "Hey guys, where's Marie-chan?"

…

…

…

Thinking back, it was a good thing she bumped into Yu that day, if she hadn't who knows what might have happened. Of course, she could do without his clueless womanizing.

Marie was a complex, yet, startlingly simple girl. She originally had no memories of her past and when she finally regained them, she wanted nothing more than to get rid of them. In the end, she decided to be the Marie that everyone knew her as. A shy, tsundere, violent, poetry-loving girl.

Currently, this girl was walking towards _JUNES_, knowing that the rest of the group had already arrived and were probably already celebrating their recent success.

She thought back to that day. Just like when the fog threatened to take over her mind, she ultimately decided to place her faith in Yu.

A faith that was well founded. It seemed like all he was born to do was tear down the impossible and make it possible. Now, he had not taken down 1, but 2 gods. First was the Goddess Izanami, followed by their most recent ordeal, the God Hinokagutsuchi. Both times, he had beaten insurmountable odds to overcome both.

However, so enveloped in her own thoughts was she, that she failed to notice the person she bumped into.

She fell back onto her rear, making a mental note to be more aware of her surroundings.

"I'm sorry sir; I guess I was too busy with my own thoughts to notice…you…" Her sentence petered out the moment she gazed at the man.

He, or she, was dressed in a completely white suit, which if she had to guess, was tailor made for a butler…or someone with a very high fetish for cosplay. His jet-black hair was gelled back in a presentable manner. But to her, the most attention-grabbing details were his eyes and face.

His face was probably very common, she couldn't tell. Mostly because he had a mask covering all but his eyes. The mask itself was somewhat plain, with the only distinguishing feature being the blood-red color that adorned half the mask. As for his eyes, they were the single coldest set of eyes she had ever seen. They felt as if staring into them would cause one to freeze from head to toe, with no chance of ever thawing out. She felt as if she had no choice but to stare into them. Closer. And closer. And closer…

"…iss. Miss? Miss? Are you okay; you seemed a little out of it there." His voice seemed light and airy, completely contradictive to the atmosphere of his eyes.

Marie quickly snapped out of her thoughts. Here she was, staring into his strangely cold eyes, while he was busy worrying over her.

"I'm terribly sorry sir. I guess I wasn't watching the road all that closely." Marie blushed as she said this; clearly, she wasn't looking at the road at all.

He seemed rather amused by her response, however. "No harm, miss. I see there is nothing broken, so therefore, there is no reason to apologize."

"O..oo..oooh, I'm so sorry. My name is Marie. Again I apologize, mister…" She trailed off, hoping the man would get the hint and tell her the name of the man she was apologizing to.

He seemed to understand.

"Oh, my apologies. You may call me… _JOKER_." The mask lent a strangely eerie atmosphere to the way he said his name, if that could be called a name.

"Errr, right. Well I better get going. My friends are waiting for me. Good-bye sir."

She quickly moved around him, noting that because of her lack of awareness, she was going to be late. She also noted that the man's suit did, in fact, have coattails. As she left, she almost missed out on 2 things.

The first was the man's soul. Even though she had never met him, she felt as if though his soul was oddly familiar. The most worrying thing was what he said as she passed him. Being in a hurry she almost didn't catch it.

Almost.

"Good-bye. I shall see you later… _Izanami-no-mikoto_."

The fact that he knew that name caused Marie's eyes to widen, for now she knew why his soul was familiar. She turned to face him, but the man was gone. Almost as if he had never been there at all.

Turning around again, she hurried to her friends in a state of shock. She had to warn her friends. The man was dangerous, that much she could guess. However it was the other thing she had figured out which was alarming.

The man was just like her secret-no-so-secret crush, Yu.

The man had multiple Persona.


	3. Chapter 2

**Alright, some reviews, a few PMs, everything seems to be coming together now.**

**Now, for the few responses I got.**

**DemonsAnarchy: Good guess, but only one thing is wrong with that; I said that character's hair is black. It'd be kinda troublesome to change red hair to black. But worry not, Sho is coming soon. It won't be how you'd think, either.**

**Deco.64: Thank you, I've been actually coming up with these chappies on the fly. I mean, the main overall plot is set, but the plot advancement and fillers are mostly gonna be improved. Thank the Gods I have always been a pretty decent writer.**

**Anywho, expect some more characters to be introduced, plus watch for the several OCs that will be popping up.**

**Disclaimers: The Persona series is not mine. It belongs to Atlus. So does the SMT series. P4A and P4AU belong to Atlus and Arc Works.**

Chapter 2

"Wait, wait, wait! Are you telling us that you bumped into someone who knew your true name?! And on top of that, you're saying that he seems to have the same powers that Yu has?"

Naturally, the over-the-top voice heard could be none other than Yosuke.

It was a few days after their celebration, but with Marie's news, the unofficial party was soured and not as lively as it should have been. The sudden appearance of another Persona user, one that apparently could use more than 1 Persona was a little frightening. They had no information on him: nothing about how he acted, personality, not even a simple description of his face (on account of him having worn a mask).

Simply put, it seemed like he knew more about them then they knew of him.

It was worrying. What could he do with that kind of information if he was an opponent? They all agreed that he was currently a dangerous…something.

This is why they were meeting today. After the party, they agreed to meet on the weekend to discuss the options they had to deal with this knew guy.

"Yosuke-kun, maybe he isn't a bad guy… He is a guy, right?" At this Yukiko turned her head to look at Marie.

Marie nodded at her question. "He was definitely a guy, his shoulders were broad and his Adams apple was certainly larger than a woman's."

Chie seemed to become more determined than ever, it definitely showed on her face. "Then it's settled, if he's a bad guy, we whip his butt! If he is a good guy though… Should we try to get him on our side? If he's anything like Yu-kun, the he's bound to be really powerful!"

Everyone nodded at that statement; they'd seen how he dealt with the likes of Adachi, Izanami, and more recently, Hinokagutsuchi. If this guy was even half as powerful as that, then any new threat wouldn't stand a chance. As it was, they were a little vulnerable. They didn't have Yu, seeing as he had to go back since the break was over. Still, they were by no means weak. Having evolved their own Personas to the highest form possible, they had since learned that in order to do so, Yu had to have formed an unbreakable bond with them.

However, while the guys had shared exactly how they formed such a bond, the girls had all blushed when asked. All of them had also turned away to quickly hide a blush, which lead to all of them noticing said action and growling loudly at each other.

It was official; Yu had game.

How many other girls had he formed a "bond" with, though…

At this point, Chie felt a need to say something.

"Hey guys? What if he's not alone? He might be working with others… or maybe he works _for _someone? Maybe, he works with a group of other people, who are trying to achieve some kinda goal that we have no idea of right now because it's so out there!"

At this, everyone was looking at her, completely astonished by her thought process. However, they also had the same thought running through their heads.

_How did we not see that!?_

In a way, it was an extremely likely scenario. He might be working with a group or _for_ a group of people. Possibly also Persona users.

Yosuke shook his head while facepalming. "Chie-chan, only you would say something that thought out as a complete accidental result of your imagination running wild."

She looked surprised. "What? Why are you guys looking at me like that? Was it something I said?"

They all shook their heads no collectively. Yukiko voiced all their thoughts. "Only you, Chie-chan."

Yosuke cleared his throat to get all of their attention. "Well, whatever the case, we should get ourselves prepared just in case this is the worst case scenario. In other words, the thought Chie-chan had. Let's try to get him to our side if we can though. It would definitely be a better idea than fighting him."

They all nodded their heads and got ready to enter the T.V. world when they were interrupted by a voice.

"Excuse me, you students seem like you're acquainted with the area. Could you bother showing me or telling me where this location is? I'm new here, just moved in, actually."

When they turned to see who had talked to them, the guys all thought the same thing. _She's gorgeous. _Meanwhile, the girls all got self-conscious and also thought the same thing. _She's more equipped than I am._

And she definitely was an eye turner.

Her hair was an absolutely stunning jet-black that shone due to its luster. Even though its color was dark, her hair seemed to shine with an unnatural grace. Her eyes were slightly angled and wider than the usual Japanese native. They spoke of some sort of Hispanic descent, with their bright hazel color and the same unnatural glow her hair had.

Her arms were lithe and slim, suggesting that she wasn't a very physical person. They also attracted attention to her chest. It was perfectly proportioned, with no unnecessary bounce or jiggle when she moved. They seemed to be rather firm.

Her hips gave her figure some curves and her legs mimicked her arms in showcasing her small, petite form. Overall, she seemed to be a rather beautiful "damsel in distress" type woman. All the girls were hoping that Yu didn't come while she was here; she might get drawn to him, and then there would be another woman after his heart.

Since all of them were busy looking her over, for whatever reason or another, they failed to notice the silver band on her left hand.

Kanji was the first to snap out of his gawking. " ..oh. You said you needed help with the place? Are you visiting or…." He trailed off, not really knowing what to ask.

She giggled, letting her soft peals of amusement captivate the young men around her.

"I should probably introduce myself first," She bowed, "My name is Mai Villanueva Fuyutsuki and I just recently moved here with my fiancé. We live closer to the outskirts of Inaba, but we prefer it like that. I've always like nature, and my koi seems to enjoy it as well."

All the guys seemed to sag a little at the fiancé part, while all the girls sighed in relief. No threat to Yu's love life, as hectic as it was already.

"Oh, sorry. We don't get too many new residents. Usually just the occasional tourist coming for the inn or to visit a relative. What did you need to know specifically, or did you want just a general overview?" Yosuke seemed to bounce back from his slight depression. After all, there were more fish in the sea.

Mai thought about it, "I just need to know where, ummmm… Marukyu Tofu is. I wanted to buy some momen tofu for a special dinner for me and my koi."

Rise perked up at this; after all, it was her family shop that she needed to find. In other words, a potential recurring customer. "Oh I know where that is! It's my Family's shop; I could take you if you want?"

Mai shook her head, "No need I just need to know where to go to get there. I apologize if I sound rude."

Rise quickly shook her head. "No, no! It's fine really. I'm sure you want to get to your fiancé quickly, and knowing me, I would talk and talk and talk and keep you back. Anywho, it's just down the street from here. Keep going until you reach a bust stop. You take a right and you're on the street. You'll have to cross though; it's on the left side of the street if you're facing the shrine down the road."

Mai bowed again, this time in gratitude. "Thank you. I'm sorry for taking up your time and thank you very much, again, for the directions." With a speed that seemed almost unnatural for a person she left for the tofu shop.

The group watched her leave down the street before snapping out of their stupor. Yosuke got himself together first. "Alright guys! It's time to train! Remember, it's people like her and her fiancé that we're doing this. Now let's go!"

They all cheered in agreement and walked into _JUNES_.

…

…

…

Hidden out of sight of the street, a figure was observing the group enter _JUNES_. They brought out a cell phone and dialed a number. They waited for the phone as it connected them.

Finally, the phone connected to the other side.

"_Yes? Do you have a report?_"

The figure smiled, said smile being revealed by the sun which shone through gaps in the tree they were located in.

"Yes. The group is just a bunch of kids. They have no idea what they'll be up against. This should be extremely easy. Why were we, the neo-Vanguard, assigned this job?"

There was a small pause after the question before they heard the line crackle with a response.

"…_You know that we are not allowed that liberty to question our superiors… Even if said superiors are the weakest old men anyone's ever seen._"

At this, the figure giggled and held a hand to its mouth to stifle some of its laughter.

"That's true I guess. Very well, let's keep it up. Ohh, and I have some important news to tell you when you get home. I'll have a special dinner, too." A small hand absently rubbed the area over the figure's belly.

"_Ohhh? Special diner? Important news? I look forward to it. Something tells me that it'll change my life. I'll see you at home soon then._"

The line clicked and went dead, signifying that the line was cut due to the other side hanging up.

As the figure put away its phone, the sun shone through a gap in the leaves, revealing the figure's eyes and hands.

Its eyes seemed to glow an unnatural hazel color. The hands held nothing of importance, except that the left had had a small, silver band on its ring finger, glowing brightly in the sun.


	4. Chapter 3

**Thank you, all for you that have read this fanfic. Sorry about the delay and time between uploads, kind of hard to upload with a broken laptop. Any who, I'll try to upload quicker and more often. Now, onwards with the plot!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Persona, SMT, or Persona 4 Arena series. They belong to Atlus and Arc Works.**

Chapter 3

"…And so, that's it in a nutshell partner. If this guy, or possibly, these people are out for us… I don't think we can do it without you."

It was only a day after the group had met Mai and they had stayed afterwards to try and figure out what their next course of action should be. In the end, they had decided to let Yosuke call their leader, Yu Narukami.

"So wait, let me get this straight; Right after our most recent incident you're telling me you managed to run into yet another person? One who may or may not be against us. Or who may be in Inaba for some nefarious purpose?"

After that statement, the line went silent. It felt like the atmosphere became tangible, almost choking Yosuke from the sheer pressure he felt.

Finally he answered. "…Yes?..."

He could almost see Yu's facepalm. He could, however, hear his sigh.

"….I'll see if I can't come over next weekend on the train. I'll be restricted to the weekends until the next break comes around."

Yosuke's sigh of relief was audible over the din that Yu could only assume was Yasogami High's classroom. He could only guess if he was being called after school.

"Wow, thanks partner. With you around, this new case should be solved way quicker. Oh yeah, the girls all say hello…How did you get them all to be so friendly with you anyway, Yu?"

At this the point the line disconnected.

Yosuke lowered the phone from his ear and stared at it for a moment. "What did I say?...Eh, maybe he was just in a hurry. I guess I better tell the guys the good news. Yu's coming back soon!"

He quickly gathered his things and started dialing Chie's number so he could get the group together again. As he dialed he left the room and descended the stairs.

"Chie-chan? Hey great news! Get the group together and meet me at JUNES so I can tell you all at the same time. Oh yeah, AND DON'T GO AND ORDER ANYTHING JUST TO PUT IT ON MY TAB! I'm not made of money, ya know!"

Had he been paying attention, he may have noticed a masked person looking his direction from the top of the stairwell.

"Geez, where's Yosuke-kun? He should've been here by now. It's been over half an hour. Where do you guys think he is?" Chie's voiced conveyed her concern for him. It hadn't been that long since he called her to gather the rest of them and he had yet to show up.

"Don't worry, Chie-chan. He's probably just running a little late," reassured her best friend.

"That's the problem, Yukiko-chan. He would have called by now if that was the case." Just as she said that, her phone began to ring. She quickly brought it out, checking the caller ID to see who was calling her, hoping it was Yosuke.

It was.

She answered and proceeded to berate him.

"Damn it, Yosuke-kun! Where the hell are you? Do you know how worried you're making us?! It's been 30 minutes already. Get your lazy butt over here!"

As she finished, she noticed something about the other side of the line.

She couldn't hear anything. It was extremely silent, except for a slight muffled sound, kind of like….yelling.

"…Are you quite finished, my dear?" The voice she did hear sounded nothing like Yosuke. It was a slightly deeper tone, almost like liquid velvet. It terrified her. There was no trace of emotion.

"Who…Just who are you?! Where the hell is Yosuke-kun? How did you get his phone!?"

A high pitched cackle relayed the first emotion from the man since he spoke, which admittedly wasn't much.

"Dear, dear girl. With all due respect, lower your voice and tone. It would be a tragedy if something were to happen to your friend because you weren't able to control yourself. Something like this."

A gunshot suddenly rang out from the phone, immediately by a muffled yell, audible even with the object obstructing the person's voice.

Chie put her hand to her mouth, showing a clearly large amount of shock and trepidation. Was Yosuke just…

"Now, I've just shot your little friend in the foot, if you couldn't tell. I want you to do the following. Say nothing and give the phone to _Izanami-no-mikoto_. I believe you call her…_Marie-chan_."

Chie had no recourse other than to clench her teeth and hands and pass the cell phone to Marie.

"Here, he wants to talk to you."

Marie looked a little uneasy at this. Yosuke must be in some sort of situation for him to ask to talk to her. Was it really Yosuke?...

"Yosuke wants to talk to me?..."

At this, Chie looked away, unable to confirm Marie's question.

Marie looked from Chie to the phone, before she hesitantly took it and pressed it to her ear. "…Hello? Yosuke-kun?"

There was silence for a few moments before a voice startled and shocked her.

"Hello again, _Izanami-no-mikoto_. Or should I just call you… _Marie-chan_?"

She was stunned; it was the same man she had seen! The one she had sensed was just like Yu.

She tried to speak, but her mouth could only open and close uselessly.

"O-ho-ho-ho, is little ol' Izanami speechless? That I, _Number 0_, would actually pop up again so soon? Well, to be honest, _I am_ surprised. When my superiors told me to come here, to the middle of nowhere, I thought this assignment would be the most boring thing I'd ever done. But it's been so much fun so far. The scenery is amazing at night, the people are friendly, and the students here…well they're so _easy_."

The last statement brought Marie to her senses.

"What've you done to Yosuke-kun?! I swear, if you've hurt one of my friends…"

"Now let me cut you off while you're ahead. Aside from the new hole he has in his foot, courtesy from me of course, you're precious little _friend_ is fine. And if you follow my next instructions and succeed, I'll even give him back to you kids, all healed up."

This threw her for a loop. _Succeed?_

"Wait, what do you mean, _succeed_? What the hell do you want us to do?!"

An extremely exaggerated laugh, more of a cackle, sounded through the line. He took a few moments to "compose" himself before responding.

"You'll find out in due time. Now here's what you're going to do. You and your little friends are going to come to the station in a week's time. All of you. It'll be _fun_."

At this, the line cut off and went silent. Marie lowered the phone from her ear, more terrified than she had ever felt before. Almost as much as when she was being taken over by the fog. She looked around at her friends, noticing that they also seemed to be afraid and shocked. She swallowed nervously.

"Guys… we've got big problems…and not much time.

**Sorry about the short chapter. Been trying to write as much as possible lately. So I can upload as soon as possible. Expect at least 1 upload a week, maybe more if I hurry myself up. Thank you for understanding and see you guys soon!**


	5. Chapter 4

**Thank you for continuing to read my story. Been trying to write a little faster so as to attempt to publish more chapters. Expect more mysteries to reveal themselves and for more plot advancement.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Persona, SMT or Persona 4 Arena series. They belong to Atlus and Arc Works.**

**Chapter 4**

The line went silent in the room. The visible figure lowered the phone from his ear, taking his time to inspect it. His facial expression was unreadable; due to the mask covering it. After another small period of silence, he chuckled softly. He glanced over his shoulder, addressing a figure strapped to a chair.

"It would seem your friends are rather worried about you, _Yosuke-chan_. If they're good little boys and girls, they might just be able to beat my, ah, colleagues."

Yosuke glared at him from where he sat, unable to do anything thanks to the restraints and the gag in his mouth.

"Mmmmmmhpm, mmmhpmmm, mmmmhpmmm mhhmmmp."

The masked man turned to face him. "Hmmmm? What was that? Oh, I keep forgetting that you've got that thing in your mouth. Really though, _Yosuke-chan_, I didn't know you were into those kinds of things. Your future wife is in for the time of her life."

He approached Yosuke slowly, making sure to drag each step for several seconds. When he reached him, he made sure to lower the gag from his mouth. He expected to be treated to several moments of vulgar language.

"You sicko! When my friends beat your little _colleagues_, they'll find you and beat you as well! Do you treat this so casually, thinking you can beat us with ease!? Or are you just arrogantly confident! It doesn't matter anyway, once Yu gets here…"

The masked man began to cackle rather loudly. He didn't seem to be close to stopping anytime soon. But just as suddenly as he began he stopped. He gazed upon Yosuke, somehow managing to convey a sense of excitement through his mask.

"That's just the thing, my dear _Yosuke-chan_. I _want_ your precious little _leader_ to come here himself. I _want_ him to come try to stop me. The funny thing is, it doesn't matter if you know our plan, mainly because even I don't know our groups' master plan! Their little machinations and schemes in this place, or over in Tatsumi Port Island, don't interest me in the slightest! Those old fucks can go die in a ditch for all I care. I only want to create something that my family and I can be proud of! ...Is that something along the lines of what you expected me to say?"

Yosuke was visible shocked to hear the sudden seriousness that this masked man sprang on him.

"Wha..what?! I didn't expect anything close to what you just said to come from your mouth! Does this mean you have nothing to do with your group?! Do you have any reason to do this?! You could wreck peoples' lives if you continue with your plan?!"

The masked man seemed to not care.

"How would you even know what our plan is? How do you know that it's not for the betterment of humanity?"

If it was possible for Yosuke to be even more astonished, then he had achieved it.

"How… How can I tell?! That's always the deal with groups like yours! It's like something outta some crappy video game, or a stupid T.V. drama! Anyone else would be freaked out by this kind of things but…"

"You're just used to this by now, huh? Well, you're right about our plan. It is straight out of some crappy video game," He continued talking as he moved away from Yosuke, slowly getting closer to the only window in the room, "What our group wants…is the complete and absolute control of the universe, specifically, of Nyarlothep and Philemon. Of course," at this he turned around to face Yosuke, "Your little group wouldn't know about them, now would you? No matter, we only need to lure your leader and capture him in order to proceed with the next phase of our plan. I can only hope to the Gods that you manage to foil our plans, though."

Yosuke seemed to be visibly disturbed by the man's attitude.

"Why would you want that? Aren't you part of that group?"

"Of course, but I could care less about their little scheme. So long as my family, including my newest addition, is safe, I have no reason not to help them. However, if you stop them…I have full reign to do as I wish with this place. The Organization has no need for a place that has no use or worth."

At this, the man turned back to the window.

"And besides, since when has an madman needed a reason to do anything?"

**Sorry for the short chapter. Trying to write them as fast as possible while still being somewhat good. I'll upload as soon as I can. Peace and R&R.**


End file.
